NH33B-1917
Development of Storm Surge Hazard Maps and Advisory System for the Philippines

Wednesday, 16 December 2015
Poster Hall (Moscone South)
Carl Vincent Cabral Caro1, Joy Toriol Santiago2, John Kenneth Belena Suarez3, Judd Pe Tablazon4, Lea L. Dasallas5 and Alfredo Mahar Francisco Amante Lagmay4, (1)Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards (Project NOAH), Department of Science and Technology, Quezon City, Philippines, (2)University of the Philippines, Quezon City, Philippines, (3)Organization Not Listed, Washington, DC, United States, (4)Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards, Quezon City, Philippines, (5)Science Research Specialist, Storm Surge Component-Project NOAH, Quezon City, Philippines
Abstract:
Being located in north pacific basin which is the most active region of cyclogenesis in the world, the Philippines is frequently visited by tropical cyclones (TC). An average of 20 TC per year enter the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR), around 9 of which make landfall. Tropical cyclone enhances monsoons which cause heavy rainfall, bring in strong winds that are capable of destroying properties. This strong wind also causes storm surges that inundate the coastal portions of the country.

Typhoon Haiyan is one of the most recent and devastating events, which left the Philippines with 6,293 deaths and 2 billion USD worth of damages. In this regard, the Department of Science and Technology – Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards (DOST – Project NOAH) started a project to quantify, identify and map the storm surge hazards in the country. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) storm surge model is used to simulate 721 TCs that enter PAR. The JMA storm surge model yields time series plots for each observation point that has been defined by the team. Maximum tide levels are identified using the WXtide software, and are added to the resulting storm surge time series for each observation point. The storm tide levels are then categorized into 4 groups which is based on its peak height, this is done to create a storm surge advisory (SSA) based on the probable storm tide height. The 4 groups are SSA 1 (0.01m to 2m), SSA 2 (2.01m to 3m), SSA 3 (3.01m to 4m), and SSA 4 (4m and above).

A time series plot for each advisory is used as an input data in Flo2D flood modelling software. This software is a grid developer system software that has maps with topographies and creates models based on the grid topographies, boundaries, and tides. This modelling software can produce the probable extent,depth of inundation and its corresponding hazard level of storm surge.

The storm surge advisory improves the capabilities of the country in mitigating disasters. Through this advisory, the people will be able to visualize the extent of danger that a tropical cyclone might entail.

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